DiTommaso: The fiscal fiasco

Friday

Jan 25, 2013 at 6:00 AM

Blaise DiTommaso Guest column

So what’s all the ominous political drama about the edge of our economic life as we know it? Basically, as it has been throughout history, it’s about those who have everything versus those who have nothing. Apparently, everything isn’t enough for those who have everything and nothing isn’t enough for those who have nothing. So technically, rich and poor alike, everyone simply wants more.

The Rich say the Poor “want” everything given to them, and the Poor say the Rich “get” everything given to them. The Rich say they work hard for everything and the Poor say the work hard for nothing. So why do we have such contentious economic differences?

Economic difference is rooted in the proliferation of rule and power and the practice of slavery – forced labor, which coincides with agricultural development during the Neolithic period 11,000 years ago. As empire building emerged, conquerors enslaved the conquered. These slave owners (emperors, kings, etc.) became the ruling class and slavery persisted with an abundance of land and a shortage of labor.

As populations grew, it became less costly to employ workers with an abundance of labor. The ruling class, land owners in a system called feudalism, could command lop-sided contracts from an often desperate work force. This is when terms like: serfs, peasants, proletariats, indentured servants, etc. enter our language to divide our social systems into distinct class (value) categories.

Now we have the terms upper, middle and lower class, as well as white and blue collar to categorize our socio-economic (value) status. We also have terms like entitlement, tax inequality, class warfare, fiscal cliff, debt crisis, foreclosure, credit default swaps, recession, the 99 percent, etc.

In 1980, executive salaries were (only) an average 42 times higher than the average regular worker. In 2000, it was 525 times and in 2010, after the financial meltdown of 2008, it leveled off at 343 times. With this staggeringly lop-sided increase, it is apparent that the upper class, the ruling 1 percent, has little appreciation for the lower classes, the remaining 99 percent.

Just do the math…

The 1 percent (the decision-makers fully responsible for the 2008 meltdown) was quick to toss the middle and lower classes out on the street to save their exorbitant salaries, even though most economists agree that economic stability depends on the middle class.

Funny how the stock market is higher now than before the meltdown, yet the middle class will struggle for years. Which is most true? A) The 1 percent creates all the jobs for the 99 percent. B) The 99 percent creates all the wealth for the 1 percent.

So we have this current fiscal fiasco, the political power-struggle in Washington and the media hype on television, none of which address the real issue of fiscal responsibility or promoting the general welfare. What’s that? Promoting the general welfare? What does that mean? Did he say Welfare?

Promoting the general welfare is a task codified in the preamble of our Constitution. It means that our government must ensure that its citizens, all of them, equally and without bias, have a fair shot at life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

In times like these, you don’t cut spending on programs that promote the general welfare and you don’t continue incentives for those protecting lavish lifestyles at the expense of the unfortunate. This glut for upper class rule and wealth hoarding has historic acclaim in the endings of the British Empire, the Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire, the Ming Dynasty, the German Empire, the Soviet Empire, etc., etc.

The United States was formed in objection to oppressive misrepresentation and our own Civil War was fought against principles of human subjugation. History will repeat itself if we don’t do what’s right and promote the general welfare. Will the American Empire be next to fall?

Blaise DiTommaso is a Boylston resident and occasional contributor to The Banner.